Rodriguez says some players had a sense of entitlement during his time at Michigan

It's no secret that Rich Rodriguez still harbors some ill feelings about his time at Michigan. Who wouldn't after he was sabotaged as soon as he was named the coach. Granted, he should stop talking about his time in Ann Arbor and concentrate on the task he has in Tucson. It seems like every time he does an interview he talks about something that happened at Michigan.

During an interview with Matt Hayes of the Sporting News, Rodriguez told Hayes that he felt some of the players had at Michigan had a sense of entitlement. Once again another reason why he failed in his tenure at Michigan.

“We got total buy-in from the get-go here,” Rodriguez said. “From the players to the support staff to everybody that was touching the program. We had some guys committed at Michigan, but we had others that weren’t. Some guys felt a sense of entitlement. The name on the chest, and 'I’ve already arrived.'

“The Chad Hennes and the Jake Longs put the work in and succeeded before us, and guys behind them thought they were entitled to the same status but hadn’t proved anything.” 

Rodriguez just didn't fit what the old 'Michigan Men' wanted, therefore it was a bad marriage from the start. Only someone with a wealth of knowledge would know that. There are some that blame those horrible three years on Rodriguez. I refuse to do that. But Rodriguez needs to move on and let his Michigan experience stay in the past.

5 NBA players I feel sorry for

It's difficult to feel sorry for professional athletes given how much money they make. As a fan you do feel sorry for a few. Not because of something semi tragic that might've happened in their lives, but you know they'll never come close to winning a championship. I compiled a list of 5 NBA players that I actually feel sorry for. Even though you'll never know these players on a personal level these players seem like good guys who'll never win.

1. Steve Nash, Los Angeles Lakers- I made this list specifically for Nash. After being on good teams that seemed to get  stonewalled in the playoffs (Suns, Mavericks), it looked like Nash would finally get a chance to play for an NBA title when he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Right now it looks like that assessment was wrong. I know there's another half of basketball to be played, the Lakers are in danger of missing the playoffs. Nash has to be thinking "I didn't sign up for this". The Lakers are under .500 and have been filled with drama from the word go.

I feel sorry for Nash because he is a good team guy and it looks like he'll never get a chance to play for a championship. He doesn't have too many seasons left and I hate to see him go out like this.


2. Al Jefferson, Utah Jazz- Jefferson is a good player. Not a major star, but could be a solid number two on a contender. Problem is, Jefferson has never been on a team resembling a contender ( bad Celtics teams, Timberwolves, Jazz). And you can always look for him to get hurt.  

Jefferson seems like an everyman. He just goes and does his job in a workmanlike fashion. He's not spectacular but he finds a way to get his numbers, even though the team loses more than it wins. I have no problem with Jefferson, but if he gets traded again I'm afraid it'll be to another bad team that has no clue on how to build a team.


3. LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers- See Al Jefferson. More athletic but just trapped on a Blazers team trying to build with young talent. At one point it looked like the Blazers had a team of the future until injuries ravaged them and they were forced to start over.

The rebuilding project in Portland seems to be off to good start with Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard riding shotgun. The Blazers will need a few more weapons to get Aldridge off this list.


4. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls- Looks like his path to an NBA title will forever be blocked by the Big 3 in Miami.


5. Chris Bosh, Miami Heat- Not much to say here. It's hard to feel sorry for someone with a championship on their resume. But Bosh will always be known as the third wheel in Miami.

     

Matt Damon: Ravens only won because of injuries

Every team in sports has injuries. You'll never hear a coach say injuries was a reason for a loss no matter how true the statement might be. Think about it, you never heard former Cincinnati Bearcats coach, Bob Huggins, say that Kenyon Martin's blown knee cost him a national championship. The excuse is made for fans of a certain team and actor Matt Damon proves it.

Damon is a New England Patriots fan, who happened to blow the AFC championship game to the Baltimore  Ravens. To me the Ravens picked them off a year late, but no one on the Ravens blamed Lee Evans for dropping a surefire touchdown pass. But Damon has a reason why the Ravens went to the Super Bowl and not the Patriots. Injuries.

Damon says that if the Patriots were completely healthy, the Patriots and not the Ravens would be going to the Super Bowl.


"Lotta injuries," Damon said ... "They couldn't beat us full strength."

Sounds like he's using the Dan Gronkowski injury as a crutch for the loss. While it's true that cornerback Aqib Talib and Stevan Ridley were hurt, their injuries happened during game action. So that won't fly with Ravens fans.

When asked for his rooting interest in the Super Bowl, Damon replied, “I’m going for a healthy New England team, that’s the best team in the country, [Baltimore and San Francisco] are both pretty good. They’re like the same team, real similar.”

Spoken like a true fan.

Paul Pierce says Celtics lack mental toughness

The Boston Celtics are clearly a team in transition. Once a team dominated by the Big Three (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett), the Celtics are now a mix of veterans and youngsters with point guard Rajon Rondo being the bridge. The result so far hasn't been pretty. The Celtics currently stand at 20-21 with losses to the lowly Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers the last two games. Not the kind of results Celtic fans have been accustomed to the past five years.

Pierce, who has seen both the good and the bad, has spoken out about the team's current four game skid. Pierce told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that the Celtics are lacking the mental toughness of teams past.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement of your teammates.


“I think we got pieces here,” the Celtics captain said before Tuesday night’s 95-90 loss to the Cavaliers. “We just got to come together. We got to figure this thing out. Can’t get discouraged.

“I think that’s the one thing this team lacks, that mental toughness, man. When we lose our confidence, I’ve never been on teams like that. We got to stay together, we got to play with confidence.

“Yeah, definitely, it hurts me to say that. It’s like I really sometimes don’t believe it.

“We get down on ourselves. We got to go out there and believe we can win every game. It’s tough sometimes.”

Now Pierce has been on some bad Celtic teams prior to the arrival of Allen (now with the Miami Heat) and Garnett, and this one isn't quite as bad, but it's probably wearing thin on Pierce's patience for the young pups to grow up.

There's still another half of basketball to play and it'll be interesting to see if GM Danny Ainge will make a deal to keep the team competitive, let things play out, or blow it up altogehter.

Cavs' Anderson Varejao out for the season

The Cleveland Cavaliers have endured their share of injuries this season. For starters, point guard Kyrie Irving missed a chunk of time to start the season. Now after missing power forward Anderson Varejao for about half of the first half this season due to knee surgery, they'll be missing him altogether.

The team reported that Varejao developed a blood clot that will keep him out for the remainder of  the season.

Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao recently developed a blood clot (small right lower lung pulmonary embolism) and was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic last Thursday (January 17th). He is being treated with blood thinners (anticoagulants) and is expected to stay at the Clinic for several days, while undergoing treatment and observation. He will need to remain on blood thinning medication for approximately three months. While Varejao is expected to fully recover, he will miss the remainder of the current Cavaliers season.

It's a shame because Varejao had  been playing at a high level. He was a borderline All-Star and would've brought back a nice haul had he stayed healthy and the Cavs were to trade him. More important is his health and hopefully he'll be able to return to the with a clean bill of health.

Matt Ryan has a sprained AC joint

After playing up to their history and blowing another big lead in a playoff game, the Atlanta Falcons received a bit of bad news on top of today's loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game.

After being hit by San Francisco's Ahmad Brooks, quarterback Matt Ryan looked in a bit of pain. A report by ESPN's Adam Schefter revealed that Ryan suffered a sprained Ac joint. The team believes that surgery may not be needed.

I'm sure this isn't the way the Falcons or their fans envisioned the season ending.

Charles Barkley says none of Kentucky's players are ready for the NBA

Former NBA and Auburn star, Charles Barkley was in attendance for the Kentucky-Auburn basketball game Saturday. While the Tigers got hammered by their superior SEC foe, Barkley went on the telecast for a few and explained why he doesn't like the one and done rule and that none of Kentucky's are ready for the NBA, while slamming the agents and family members that steer kids to go pro.


"John Calipari's a friend of mine. I love him as a friend. There ain't one player on this Kentucky team who should go pro early. I hate the one-and-done rule in college basketball. Just 'cause there's a rule does not mean you have to do it. Listen, Anthony Davis played well enough for him to go pro. ... I wish some of these parents would talk to their kids."

"I would love for guys to stay three years," Barkley said. "I think the best we can really get is two years. ... The family members are greedy, the agents are pigs, also. So they tell these kids, 'Go to college for one year.' ... It's driven by the agents, to be honest with you, and listen, it's a corrupt system. ... These agents are such scumbags, and yo know that, they just want their percentage of the money. Matt (Doherty), you know that. They don't care about these kids, how well they do in the NBA."


Are you listening Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin?

Shaquille O'Neal came out and said that a player should be removed three years from his high school class to enter the NBA draft, similar to the NFL draft rule.

Personally there should be a two year rule, that way you can see if a kid is all potential or possibly the real deal. Currently, this draft class is looking pretty weak, so Noel, Poythress, and Goodwin are looked at as possible top 10 picks this year. I just don't see a surefire star coming out. There are good players out there but no difference makers to help an NBA team.  Maybe when the NCAA tournament starts we'll see the cream rise  to the top.